Lebanon High School student gives real look at teen pregnancy

They are just two words, but when put together, they provide one the most powerful and, depending on the situation, happy or scary statements that exist.

"I'm pregnant."

For Shynia Viera, it was the most frightening, surreal moment of her life.

"When I found out I was pregnant, I didn't believe it at first. It hit me after the first ultrasound. I freaked out and cried, a lot," said Viera.

Viera, now 17, was just 15 when she found out she was pregnant. With support from her 16-month-old son's father, his family and her parents, she decided that she wanted to keep the baby, named Ryan, who was born January 12, 2014.

But with her decision came the consequences, which for her was saying goodbye to her childhood.

"It was a very big decision for me to keep my child. I realized I couldn't do typical teenage things anymore. I can't pick up and go to the movie or go anywhere. I have to take care of another life now," Viera said. "The pregnancy was the easy part, because you don't have to wake up in the middle of the night to change diapers and feed the baby. Now, I have to.

"I go to school every day and have to take care of my son every day. I can't go out and do normal kid things anymore. I have to plan it ahead of time so I can find a babysitter and everything."

As a part of National Teen Pregnancy month, Viera has embraced the situation at hand, to serve as a voice for others.

"I wanted to be a voice for others. A couple of months after I realized I was pregnant, in speaking with Margie, who is my Education Leading to Employment and Career Training counselor, I realized that I wanted to help as much as I could with other teen parents or help other teens prevent pregnancy," Viera said. "This is very hard. This isn't something that I would wish upon anybody. It takes a toll on you mentally, physically and emotionally. If I can get through to one teenage girl, I've done my job."

Viera did make it clear, however, that while she doesn't wish it upon anyone, that she wouldn't trade her son for anything in the world.

"It happened. I take full responsibility that it happened. There are other precautions that I could have taken to prevent it from happening. But it happened," Viera explained. "I love my son more than I love anything in this world, and I'd do anything for him, but it's hard. I don't think anyone else should have to deal with it if they aren't ready for it. I'm not ready for it, but I do what I have to do. I do it because I want to do it."

As a student at Lebanon High School and the Lebanon Career and Technology Center, Viera said that she feels the school could take another approach to showing the students the repercussions of sex and pregnancy.

"I think in high schools now, they teach one class on sex, pregnancy and prevention in your ninth grade year. It's like, 'OK, I taught you what you're supposed to know, now don't do it,'" said Viera, who plans to pursue a career in nursing after graduating. "I feel like it should be in middle school. There are middle school kids who are getting pregnant. They don't know anything. It could help a lot."

Instead of just teaching classes to the students, Viera has another idea that could help, too.

"They should have other teen parents attend the high schools. They could sit down and have an auditorium filled with the kids to show and tell them how hard it really is. This isn't something that people want to do," said Viera. "They can show their grades and let them know that they can do it, but it's not going to be easy. It's hard to maintain a B average and take care of a baby.

"You don't get to do teenage activities. You don't get to do anything. We should be able to talk to them about it. You don't have the freedom that you used to. This is not a game. Having babies young is not a game. There are some people older than me that aren't ready to have a kid. I'm a kid myself."

Viera, who says her friends have been an excellent support system for the past two years, plans to eventually move to Florida with her son's father's family, as well as her older brothers.

Along with taking care of Ryan, Viera goes to school and works two jobs in order to make sure her son has everything he needs and so he won't "struggle with anything growing up."

It's not like TV shows "16 and Pregnant" or "Teen Mom" portray it to be. It's real life.

"Maybe some girls think that if they are doing it on TV, they can too. It's not like that at all. The reality of it is you have a life to take care of. This isn't a TV show. You don't get paid to do this. This is real life," Viera said. "They get paid to do their show, whereas I don't get paid to be my son's mother."